PICKET: Michigan lawmaker's family accuses congressman of past sexual abuse of family member

The family members of Congressman Dale Kildee, Michigan Democrat, are charging that the Capitol Hill lawmaker sexually abused his second cousin 50 years ago. Patrick Kildee, who was a 12 at the time of the first alleged abuse, was said to have endured separate instances of sexual molestation for 5 years at the hands of his cousin who is now a U.S. Congressman.

“The allegations against me are completely false and shameful. I regret having to air all of this in public, but I feel like I have no choice. This is a concerted effort by distant relatives, two of whom have a long history of mental illness and multiple run-ins with the law, along with political adversaries to destroy my reputation by lying about something that never took place more than 50 years ago. Republicans tried to peddle these scurrilous allegations during my last congressional race and authorities and reputable news outlets rejected these false allegations.

Now they are back at it again to try to win an open congressional seat. These allegations resurfaced recently when the accuser’s son asked me for money and federal benefits, which I refused to do and which I formally reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The following audio tapes were recently posted online by the family in which they discuss in their own words how they attempted to blackmail me.

They further state that they have no evidence to support their claims while discussing at length the long history of mental illness. Twenty years ago, the accuser’s wife called me demanding federal benefits. On the audio, the family admits to the blackmail and says the accuser’s wife said, “you’re going to get me his Social Security disability, or I’m going to go public with that.”

Rep. Kildee serves not only on the House Early Childhood Committee, he also oversaw the House Page Program which ended a few weeks after the Congressman announced he would not seek an 18th term.

Jon Yinger a broadcaster, interviewed Patrick’s mother Jane, his step father, and sister who discussed with Mr. Yinger about the disturbing allegations regarding the Michigan Congressman.

“We encouraged (Rep. Kildee) to run for office and even went down to Flint to spur him on,” said Patrick’s mother. “He spent almost every weekend at our house…it turns out, in my son’s bed.”

Patrick has been in and out of a state psychiatric hospital. He is currently living on his own. The Kildee family blames Congressman Kildee for Patrick’s mental illness and behavioral issues over the years, which they attribute to his past trauma.

Patrick’s mother confronted Rep. Kildee in a phone call to his DC office once. She told Yinger, “You don’t know for sure what he said, but he didn’t deny it and he didn’t do anything else and I said, ‘Well, Dale, we’re not getting anywhere.’ And I said, ‘I just wanted you to know, that as his mother I know what you have done to Patrick and what the consequences are and that he is in the state hospital.’”

Below are separate clips from the hour long interview of the Kildee family:

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About the Author

Kerry Picket, a former Opinion Blogger/Editor of The Watercooler, was associate producer for the Media Research Center, a content producer for Robin Quivers of “The Howard Stern Show” on Sirius satellite radio and a production assistant and copy writer at MTV.